The Loss Of Great Literature

It really bothers me, but I try not to complain too much. People get defensive of the books that they like but really, we've lost something in this great world. The quality of what breathes life into the colorless, misshapen dullness has been buried beneath the guise of ease and convenience. Progress and technology are made to sound as if they are the sole accomplishments of the world. We are so much better off without having to work, so they say. Even the basic pencil and paper are old, ancient and must be improved upon. Entertainment is fast and explosive, quick to the point and must meet a certain standard for visual quality. Otherwise it's dismissed by critics and the masses alike. We've capitalized on a market of sparkly vampires, sacrificing art for money.

Readers today have no time for hidden meaning. The basic themes of love and betrayal are packaged so lightly that no second glance is required. A quick read through is designed for the hungry reader who adores the pages of simple words strung together into flowing sentences, getting through the material as quickly as possible. As we complain about the falling test scores in America's youth, we continue to lower the standards of age appropriate literature. An entire genre is written for the unintelligent fool to appreciate, and they do in massive numbers. Once again, quality forsaken for quantity.

Have the days of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens passed away so long ago that perhaps not a single books on the new arrivals shelf might be decent? To be a successful writer you must lose your soul in your stories, in your characters. It's beyond a description of your awkward high school girl in love with a forbidden high school boy who happens to be attractive and drive a nice car. Whoever decided these shallow characters would become the starting point of every new novel should be taken out and shot. How many candy coated prom centered books is enough? Since when did a cheerleader become synonymous with God, or the term nerd become an acceptable description? At what point will America desire characters with substance?

Besides writers, it seems on English teachers have any insight on this problem. They try to force students to read classics, but very few teachers succeed in ever inspiring a sullen teenager to feel hungry for literature, real literature. Literature should make you cry and not because a character was cheated on by their beloved or has a mother dying of breast cancer. It's not the outer conflicts that should move you-though if you are fully immersed in the book they would-but the inner struggles that are filled with emotion for the reader to experience. No, the quest to become confident enough to be elected homecoming queen does not count as an inner struggle.